The
stock EX250 fork springs are a little soft (0.44 Kg/mm) so I read up on
possible replacements. EX500 springs were pretty scarce but I managed
to snag a set of GS500 springs (0.594 Kg/mm) on eBay. The seller was
kind enough to extract the springs from a ratty old set of '91 forks.
Crudely checked the spring rate using a bathroom scale and ruler, 6Kg
gives about 10mm of compression.
Stock springs are 463mm long
and have short metal spacers at the top, protruding about 6mm above the
fork tube. The GS500 springs are 277mm long so spacers were required.
Home Depot came through with couplers for 1/2" plastic pipe, they're
about 28mm OD and 47.6mm long, so five gives 238mm, just flush with the
fork tube top. There's slightly less preload to compensate for the
higher spring rate.
Measured sag with rider and it's about 38mm, which is in the right
ballbark relative to the 130mm total fork travel.
The
ride is noticeably less soggy at the front, seems to track better in
turns. The additional spring rate doesn't seem to make the ride harsher.
Maybe someday emulators.